Do Premiere of AE have XML support?

[I Bloom]

I don't currently have these installed but I'm wondering if these programs have XML support and if someone can send me examples.

IBloom

[Steve Freebairn]

The project files for Premiere are xml files. I've also attached an aaf file and an edl so you can look through them. I only imported one clip so that the files would be easier to decode, if you want something more complicated, PM me.

[Mark L. Pederson]

Ian is like the next Automatic Duck!
RED DUCK!!

[I Bloom]

Red Duck is good.
But I don't want to copy autoduck too much.
Looking for title ideas that have some zing.

[Mark L. Pederson]

Red Duck is good.
But I don't want to copy autoduck too much.
Looking for title ideas that have some zing.
RedcineMachine

or ... since you are focused on round trippin' - how about -

RedTrip or RedTripper

[I Bloom]

RedcineMachine

or ... since you are focused on round trippin' - how about -

RedTrip or RedTripper

Sold... RedTrip.

But %10 of zero is still zero, Mark. A cold mathematical fact.

[Mark L. Pederson]

Sold... RedTrip.

But %10 of zero is still zero, Mark. A cold mathematical fact.

Don't I KNOW it!!!

I can write a book about "back end" in the film business.

My back end still hurts from my last film!!

[Bruce Allen]

Ian

EDIT: I guess I should have said "short answer - no, AE doesn't do XML out of the box. Automatic Duck does use XML though - imports only, not exports."

How can I help with After Effects?

It imports easily from Premiere (of course!) - has done so for years. Automatic Duck allows for decent imports from Avid, FCP, etc.

Round-tripping (eg going back to Premiere / Avid / FCP from AE a la Color) or an update functionality (eg similar to lustre, etc changelist where you can update the lustre project to reflect changes in the edit) - yes, those would be uber-cool. Or even just an "online" functionality, where it can figure out the Red Pull List necessary to get footage to finish an AE project at full quality.

The way you would do those would be either a C++ plugin, or using After Effects' scripting language to create an XML file. I hack away at After Effects scripts and plugins every 6 months when I get a few minutes of free time - so if there's something simple you need, let me know.

But After Effects has some crucial flaws that make the above perhaps not worth the effort. I onlined a 10-minute short film on it back in 2002 and it wasn't all happy laughter.

1. no persistent caching of renders - each time you close the project, you lose your entire render cache. This makes complex onlines really suck. Yes, you can do prerenders, etc, but imagine if each time you wanted to render an effect in Avid you'd have to go through a whole pre-render process instead of hitting one button?

2. slow feedback - it can't play directly from disk. Every time you want to play things at real-time, it stops to load frames into RAM, generate audio, etc. Really slow. Very difficult to trim or do other online fixes.

3. terrible interface for online work - it's difficult to copy power windows or effects trees from one shot to another. Needs better tools from snapping adjustments to clip boundaries. Sometimes you are stacking adjustment layers over clips and get flash frames near edits because your power window stops 2 frames short of the edit. You could solve this with, say, an uber-interface written as a set of After Effects scripts... but by the time you wrote this, you might as well have bought Lustre / Quantel / Scratch / smoke.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

[Steve Freebairn]

So I take it, Ian that you're writing something for Premiere and Ae that will be free? If so, I'd love to help test it for you.

[I Bloom]

Ian

How can I help with After Effects?



I guess if the fact is that I can get you back into FCP. And there are scripts available to take you from FCP to AE. Then what's the point really?

Autoduck of course and Mark showed me this one:

http://www.creative-workflow-hacks.com/2007/04/15/final-cut-pro-to-after-effects-scripting-without-the-hassle/

So I've got to find a real need. And I don't see one.

Is there another environment for onlining you want to try Bruce, if AE wasn't so good?

Ian

[Bruce Allen]

Ian

Let me think... I don't think working an one-software-package solution exists within the price range.

My mistake was not using AE, but assuming I could finish in only AE like it was a Smoke or something. I should have graded shots with handles and round-tripped back to my edit program. Although that would have made the grading process even more cumbersome and less creative, at least doing changes to the edit would have sucked less.

Yeah, I know, "DUH," everyone is telling me... but hey, wouldn't it be great if we could have one application that could do editing and feathered mask power windows for an indie price.

I've been working on a few things that finished on those new Quantels and oh man, if finishing in one timeline / app isn't the nicest thing... It makes me a sad puppy to go back to our current setup of NLE (FCP / Premiere / Avid) + effects package (After Effects / Motion / Fusion / Nuke / Shake / Combustion) + plugins + color corrector (Color / plugins within NLE or effects program).

But, yes, scripts could help... on both ends! Your FCP -> RedCine script is a vital first start.

What exactly did you have in mind, Ian?

Maybe I can help you write an AE "roundtrip-erator" that simplifies updating shots back into your editing program once you've worked on them? But by the time that I've written that, maybe Adobe will have written a similar thing, or Apple will have got their FCP <-> Motion / Phenomenon setup really firing on all cylinders? I don't see any hope for my favorite program from a editing point of view (Avid) sadly...

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

[laguun]

Yeah, I know, "DUH," everyone is telling me... but hey, wouldn't it be great if we could have one application that could do editing and feathered mask power windows for an indie price.

Its only a small plugin, but have you checked out looks?
http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/magicbulletlooks.html

[Bruce Allen]

Its only a small plugin, but have you checked out looks?
http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/magicbulletlooks.html

Yes, used it a lot for the Ringo video!

Results were good. Only niggles would be:

1. lack of flexibility in power windows (that's the host editing package's fault - MASK TOOL PLEASE! TRACKING PLEASE!)

2. difficult to maintain a consistent look across everything (Again, editing package / After Effects UI fault)

3. the slowness of setting a look and lack of trackballs.

4. inconsistency between FCP and AE color rendering (DAMN YOU APPLE!)

By the way, is there any reason someone couldn't write a driver that emulates a colorist's interface using three $100 Kensington trackballs (add a $1300 Mackie Control Pro / Euphonix MC Control if you have one?) Good grief, those Tangent controllers are expensive...

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com